Petitions Committee marks first year of achievements in new report

17 November 2016

It has been a busy and exciting first year for the Petitions Committee with over 10 million unique email addresses used to sign petitions in the UK. On Wednesday 16 November 2016 the Petitions Committee released its report 'Your Petitions: A Year of action' highlighting some of its key achievements and reflecting on its first year.

The Committee received 23,232 petitions, with 6,121 accepted and published between July 2015 and July 2016. The Committee scheduled 20 debates, took evidence on 3 petitions and published a report, with recommendations to the Government.

This report explores how petitions work, how people have used the petitions site, the work of the Committee, its achievements so far and how petitions can be effective. It was published to coincide with the Petitions Committee's anniversary event on Wednesday 16 November 2016, as part of UK Parliament Week. The event was opened by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, and the following speakers contributed:

Helen Jones MP, Chair of the Petitions Committee

Michael Ellis MP, Deputy Leader of the House of Commons

Steve Double MP, a member of the Petitions Committee

Ben Howlett MP, a member of the Petitions Committee

David Mackintosh MP, a member of the Petitions Committee

Paul Scully MP, a member of the Petitions Committee

Malcolm Clark, Sustain

Pat Tarttelin, Women Against State Pension Inequality

Sue Farrington Smith, Brain Tumour Research

Maria Lester, petitioner for more funding into brain tumour research.

Chair's comments

Helen Jones, Chair of the Petitions Committee, said:

"In 2015 I was proud to be elected as the chair of the newly-created Petitions Committee. One year later I believe we have developed and refined a process which gives campaigners an extra string to their bow and the public another means to make their voices heard.

In our first year, we've already seen petitions change Government policy and have an influence on what happens in Parliament. People who had never engaged with Parliament before are having their voices heard in Westminster.

This event in UK Parliament Week will give us a chance to showcase what the public have achieved with their petitions this year. We hope it will inspire more people to get involved and start their own campaigns."

Get involved

UK Parliament Week is a programme of events and activities that connects people with the UK Parliament. More than 250 events will take place across the United Kingdom throughout the week in the biggest UK Parliament Week ever.